22 March 2006

Google maps on UK phones

For a little while now, our American friends over the pond have had a rather wonderful new toy: Google maps on their mobiles. With just a simple download, almost any java-enabled phone can download a tiny java applet and then have all the fun of Google Local search in the palm of their hand. That includes directions and aerial photos - you'll never have an excuse to be lost again!

Unfortunately for us over in Blighty, Google Local for Mobile has only been available for the US. Until now, that is.

Now although Google still haven't announced any plans to roll out their mobile map services in the UK yet, those rather clever people at MGMaps have beaten them to it - and you don't hear that often in the same sentence as 'Google'. Google don't officially support MGMaps of course, as designer Christian Steng hastens to point out.

Although not quite as advanced - particularly for getting directions - as Google's own offering, you can still search for your nearest taxi rank and pizza and - even better - MGMaps not only supports Google's maps, but also Yahoo, MSN and Ask. You are free to use any map provider you choose. This is especially useful for looking at aerial shots, as one provider might be patchy in your area, but one of the big four should be able to deliver no matter where you are.

Just like Google's own tool, installation is a doddle - just point your phone's WAP browser at one of the URLs below and you will have the applet installed in minutes. We tried it on a number of different Nokia and Microsoft smart phones, without problems.

Maps loaded fairly quickly as long as signal strength was high and were easy to navigate with the phone's thumb-stick. However it should be said that a bigger screen on your phone makes all the difference, particularly when you're trying to read those tiny street names.

I have to admit that the novelty factor was huge - although everyone's getting used to pocket GPS map devices, seeing a map on a phone - albeit without GPS - still has the ability to cause a ripple of excitement when you show it off. And the fact is, you never seem to have a map on you when you need one. Now you have no excuses and, best of all, it's free!

For more info, visit:

www.google.com / glm
or download right now from:
http://google.com / glm

www.mgmaps.com
or download right now from:
http://wap.mgmaps.com /

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